Benedict praises Britain as a ‘force for good’

POPE Benedict XVI praised Britain as a “force for good” yesterday as thousands of people turned out to greet him on the first day of his historic visit.

But he also delivered a warning about “aggressive forms of secularism”, urging the nation not to lose its traditional values as it “strives to be a modern and multicultural society”.

The first state visit to Britain by a pope came amid renewed anger at the worldwide clerical child abuse scandal.